Three U.S. U17 wrestlers advance at Klippan Lady Open in Sweden, with 14 U.S. Seniors getting their draw

KLIPPAN, Sweden – The first day of competition has completed at the respected Klippan Lady Open, as three U.S. U17 athletes have advanced to Saturday morning’s competition.

2018 Cadet national champion Kennedy Blades (Broadview, Ill./Wyoming Seminary) completed Friday without a loss, after winning her first match by injury default at 68 kg. Blades will face Julia Fridlund of Sweden on Saturday morning, to complete the Pool A competition at her weight class.

Her sister Korina Blades (Broadview, Ill./Wyoming Seminary) split her two bouts sat 57 kg, pinning Hedda Kvale of Norway but dropping a 6-2 bout to Othelie Hoie of Norway. She will face Carolin Kvist of Sweden in the morning as she finishes her matches in Pool A.

The Blades sisters come off a successful Flatz Open in Austria, where Kennedy won a gold and Korina won a silver in the U17 division.

Alexandra Szkotnicki (Riva, Md.) dropped her first two bouts at 43 kg, and has another match against Karin Uematsu of Japan to complete her weight class round robin.

The other U.S. U17 athlete in action, Grace Pauls of Middletown, N.Y. lost twice at 61 kg and has been eliminated.

A group of 14 U.S. women athletes, who are competing in the Senior division, have received their draws for their tournament, which begins on Saturday afternoon. The U.S. women include a mix of experienced competitors and young talents who are starting to break through at the highest level.

Two Women’s National Team members are entered, Cody Pfau (Colorado Springs, Colo./Titan Mercury WC) at 53 kg and Julia Salata (Bristol, Tenn./New York AC) at 65 kg. Both have tough opening matches.

Salata, who was second in Final X in 2018, will face 2010 World bronze medalist Henna Johansson of Sweden in her first bout.

Pfau, who is third on the U.S. Women’s National Team at 53 kg, opens with 2016 Pan American champion Samantha Stewart of Canada.

Dymond Guilford (Lancaster, Calif./Missouri Baptist), who was the 2019 WCWA national champion at 170 pounds a week ago, is entering at 76 kg. Guilford will open against 2018 U23 World champion Paliha of China.

Two young Elite Accelerator Program (EAP) athletes, training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, will compete in the Senior division, Tiare Ikei (Honolulu, Hawaii/EAP) at 53 kg and Cameron Guerin (Yakima, Wash./Titan Mercury WC/EAP at 55 kg.

The event is being broadcast live. Klippan is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time zone